By Joseph Duarte |
January 22, 2008

The Baylor men's basketball program, mired in futility and controversy for most of the past decade, moved Monday into the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in almost 40 years. The last time the Bears were ranked was Feb. 11, 1969.

Here's another history lesson: At 15-2, No. 25 Baylor is off to its best start since opening 24-2 in 1945-46.

It marks only the third time in school history the Bears have been ranked since the AP began conducting the poll in 1948-49.

"It definitely caught us by surprise," junior forward Kevin Rogers said. "But this is not the highlight of our season. This is only the beginning."

Baylor is 3-0 in Big 12 play — tied with second-ranked Kansas (18-0, 3-0) — and has matched its win total from last season.

"This is well-deserved for the players for what they've done on the court this year," fifth-year coach Scott Drew said. "We are so pleased after all the lean years and not being ranked since 1969; it's a great tribute to them. It will be very tough to get the smiles off their faces today."

Just five years ago, the program was in turmoil after former player Carlton Dotson was charged in the slaying of teammate Patrick Dennehy in 2003. A subsequent NCAA investigation found major rules violations, including improper tuition payments, that then-coach Dave Bliss tried to cover up. In the wake of the scandal, Bliss, athletic director Tom Stanton and school president Robert Sloan resigned their positions at the school.

As part of NCAA sanctions, the Bears were banned from playing a non-conference schedule during the 2005-06 season. The program remains on probation through 2010.

On the court, the team has struggled to be competitive in recent years:

• It has only two winning seasons (1996-97 and 2000-01) in the past 13 years.

• It has not finished higher than 10th in the Big 12 the past six seasons, averaging only four league wins during that span.

• It has not been in postseason play since going 19-12 and qualifying for the National Invitation Tournament in 2000-01.

• It went 8-21, 9-19 and 4-13 during Drew's first three seasons.

"It's been a long road," Rogers said. "Everybody came from winning programs out of high school. We all came here for a reason. We want to make history. We've had a lot of bad streaks, but we finally broke them."

The most recent came Saturday, when Baylor beat Nebraska 72-70 to snap a 25-game Big 12 road losing streak.

"I know it made our trip home a lot more enjoyable," Drew said.

The Bears have won 10 of their last 11 games entering Wednesday's showdown against No. 18 Texas A&M at College Station. It will mark the first time in 195 meetings that both teams will be ranked.

Drew said experience has fueled the team's turnaround, with Baylor relying on senior Aaron Bruce and juniors Curtis Jerrells, Henry Dugat and Rogers. All four players, along with freshman LaceDarius Dunn, average double figures in scoring.

"We've gotten to the point where we expect these things," Drew said of snapping the nearly four-year road losing streak. "I don't think there's a shock factor."

Baylor's two losses have come against No. 6 Washington State (67-64) and unranked Arkansas (85-78). The Bears led at halftime in both.

Baylor has been one of the toughest matchups in the Big 12 this season with a guard-heavy lineup that thrives from beyond the 3-point arc. It leads the Big 12 in 3-point shooting percentage (.410) and 3-point field goals made per game (9.12).

The Bears opened the season strong, winning the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands in early November with victories over Wichita State, Notre Dame and Winthrop.

Baylor is 5-0 this season when trailing at halftime, including a 20-point rally to win at South Carolina on Dec. 19. The Bears trailed by five at halftime against Nebraska.

"Last year, we may have lost that game," Rogers said. "This year, experience is really taking over for us. Guys are stepping up in key moments."

Rogers said the ranking is a step in the right direction but nowhere near where Baylor hopes to finish the season. In the meantime, Drew doesn't plan to discuss the NCAA Tournament, especially not with a brutal five-game stretch approaching that includes games at Texas A&M, vs. Oklahoma, at Texas, vs. Texas Tech and at Kansas.

"You can always perfect things," Rogers said. "We definitely have a lot of work to do."

• • •

Welcome back

Baylor joined Texas A&M and Houston as area schools that have broken lengthy droughts between appearances in the Associated Press Top 25 basketball rankings in the last three seasons: